John johnson



@from tsm anni @fait IMPROVEMENT IN PIPE-TONGS.

@In tlnhulc munt tu iu lljts Elettra C,it/:rient zml] nuttig nut nfA the same.

TO LL WHOM IT MAY OONCERN:

Be it known that l, JOHN JDHNSON, of Saco, in the county of York, in the State of Maine, have invented a new and improved Gas-Pipe Tongs; and I do hereby declaro the following to be a full, clear, vand exact description thereof, which will enable others to make and use my invention, reference beinmfr had to the accompanying drawings, forminr part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 shows a side View of my invention.

Figure 2, a detail showing the form and construction of thc wheel having the cams or ratchets.

In the laying of gas pipes tongs or pincers are frequently employed in unitingjoints where more force is required than can he exerted by tho unaided usc ofthe hands, and pipes being made of different sizes, accordingly as they are designed for diierent uses or objects, or to convey 'a greater or less quantity of gas, pincers of different dimensions also are required, in order to t the different sizes of the pipes. When made of .the ordinary form, pincers of numbers corresponding to the various kinds of gas pipes are used by the workmen on these pipes, because, to insure a firm hold on the pipe, the jaws of the tongs or pincers must conform somewhat to the roundness ot' the pipe. Myinvention designs to produce a single pair of tongs that maybe adapted to the various sizes of gas pipes. This is accomplished as follows: On the inner side of one of the arms composing the tongs, at that part where the two arms cross each other, is made a cavity or recess of the form necessary to accommodate the devices hereafter described, viz: an eccentric, upon whose periphery aretwo or more cams, a pawl Aor stop, and a spring, by whose force the stop or pawl is operated and held against the periphery of the eccentric. The eccentric is rigidly attached to the bolt or pivot that passes through one of thctwo arms of thctongs; where they cross each other,` so that by turningthe bolt with the hand, the eccentric will revolve also. Gas-pipe tongs are usually made with one of the jaws curved, so as to embrace somewhat the pipe. The other jhw is made smaller and of less curvature, and is used mostly for the purpose of binding and holding the pipe in the jaws, as is illustrated in iig. l. By the revolution of the eccentric, located as before described, one of thejaws of the tongs is brought nearer or carried further from the other, accordingly as the eccentric is turned, thus lessening or augmenting the space between the parts and their capacity to encompass large pipe. As the bolt which is attached to the eccentric is, by the motion of the eccentric, moved further fromr the centre, thejaws are widened, and vice versa. The eccentric and bolt move either arm of the tongs. In the accompanying drawings- A B show the two arms of the tongs, a the eccentric, b the bolt, c the pawl or stop, and CZ the spring. The cavity or recess for the reception of the eccentric is seen in iig. 2. vvAs the eccentric is turned, the stop c slips over the cams or ratchet and holds the eccentric, and consequently the jaw of thc'tongs that is controlled by it, in any desired position in relation to the other jaw. The eccentric may he made so as to turn upon a pivot aihxed to a button or head on the outside of one of the arms, or it may be constructed upon the button, and the two'turn together. The place for the admission of the eccentric may he extended quite through the arm, into which the same is placed, as illustratedin the drawing.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, ise- Thc combination and arrangement of the eccentric a, set into cnc of the arms of gas-pipe tongs, pawl c spring l1, and the bolt Z, operating as and for the purpose set forth.

JOHN JOHNSON.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM Hanny CLIFFORD, HENRY C. HOUSTON. 

